As usual, we had a great Memorial weekend with family. We met all our kids and grandkids (except Colten) and our niece Mandy and her hubby Jerry and baby Paisley at the lake on Friday! We all got up the next morning and (finally) made the trip to Stephenville to visit with Brandon and Cindy and their brood at their place in the country. We've only been saying we were going to make it that way, like FOREVER! The kids had the greatest time there, swimming and riding horses and generally enjoying the whole countryside. We even hiked the short way to the fort that Chris made for the kids (& where some of those kids slept the WHOLE ENTIRE night before our visit~~
we all thought they were quite brave)! I posted pics of Fort Carrdal, you can see how handy Chris is with scrap wood (pallets)! We also enjoyed visiting with Cindy's parents, Lawrence & Vanda, who were there visiting & it was an extra bonus that Chris was there on leave from Japan. We had lots of good food, good company and also fit a lot into that one day trip. All the little ones were quite worn out by the time we headed back to the lake! Sammie and I (along with Sam & Caitlin) ended the weekend on Monday with a quick trip to Mertzon on our way home, (it was Cathy's birthday~~
I won't say which one) but we wanted to get one last visit with Kenneth and Reggie and their kiddos before they left for China, since it's going to be quite a while before we will see them again. We're going to have to make do with keeping up with Kenneth and his family through their
blog for the next few years. Thank goodness for technology, I can't imagine how much rougher their being that far away would be on everyone without it. I love being able to check on them everyday and see pics. Of course, I had to grab a few pics of them before they left, they are at the end of this post!
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| You have to admire the tenacity of cactus |
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| Preparing some of that good food while enjoying some good company |
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| Caleb bravely jumping to his daddy |
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| Madison |
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| Livi, Madi & Makynli |
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| Wyatt |
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| Caleb, Emma, Cade & Kaci |
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| Matt & Caleb |
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| Livi & Madi |
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| Livi Kate |
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| Kaci |
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| Emma & Matt |
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| Elle |
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| Makynli |
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| Brandon & Jerry |
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| Cindy's mom, Vanda & Chris cooking up something good! |
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| Chris |
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| Cade |
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| Mandy, Paisley & Jerry |
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| My D-I-L Staci making mac n cheese |
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| Cindy's dad, Lawrence |
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| Mandy & Paisley |
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| Caleb |
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| Sammie, Wyatt & Brandon |
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| Olivia (she's our critter girl) |
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| Livi still lovin' that frog! |
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| Makynli & Madison |
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| Digging in to some good BBQ, along with other goodies |
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| Brandon & Sammie |
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| Caleb |
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| Cade |
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| Colton, Lawrence & Vanda (TC in background) |
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| Chris swimming with the kids! |
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| Who was it that you said was bringing back sexy Matt? HA! |
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| Matt, Brandon & Mandy |
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| Livi, Chris & Elle |
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| Hubby~Sammie |
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| Garrett |
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| Staci & Caleb |
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| Makynli |
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| Mandy & Paisley |
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| Livi |
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| Chris's daughter, Elle |
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| Garrett with Granddad! |
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| Caitlin & Kaci |
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| Uncle Bo (Sam) getting splashed by Cade |
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| Paisley's new way to sit |
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| Paisley |
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| Checking out Fort Carrdal |
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| Headed back to the house |
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| Yep, everyone left me behind huffing and puffing at least Madi looked back to check on her old grandma!! HA! |
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| At the barn for some horseback riding |
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| None of the kids could resist the kittens! |
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| Madison with Vanda leading |
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| Livi with Cheyanne leading |
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| Livi |
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| Cade |
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| Caitlin |
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| Livi & Madi back with the kittens |
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| Livi brought the kitten for a pic |
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| Cheyanne |
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| Makynli |
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| Caleb |
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| Cheyanne |
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| Caleb |
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| Sarah with Garrett |
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| Love Emma's riding outfit! Who knew ...a tutu? |
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| Mandy & Paisley |
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| Emma and her tutu! ha ha! |
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| Mandy & Paisley |
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| Chris gave Wyatt's horse a slap and got some excitement going! Guess there is no age gap when it comes to brothers giving each other a hard time!! HA! |
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| And off Wyatt goes! |
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| Of course this only made Cade want to ride him! |
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| And Cade did get a little action from him, which had grandma and mom holding our breath... |
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| ...and giving Matt the stink eye... |
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| ...and had Staci already imagining all the summer fun Cade was going to miss out on with a broken arm... but all worked out fine, (lucky for Matt)! |
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| If all else fails ...BITE!! Watch out Cade! |
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| baby goat |
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| Caitlin showing us how she still remembers how to show sheep! |
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| Matt showing the boys how the mama cat carries her babies |
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| Paisley |
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| Matt |
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| Jerry and Brandon |
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| Enjoying Brandon's guitar skills! |
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| The girls loved listening to Brandon |
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| Sammie & Lawrence |
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| Garrett back at the lake! |
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| Makynli at the lake |
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| Poor Livi was upset |
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| Sarah loving up Madison |
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| Paisley |
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| Hallie at her grandparent's house in Mertzon |
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| Annabelle |
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| Annabelle thought they should water the plants |
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| Kellen |
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| Grandfather Alvie thought the girls needed watering |
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| Annabelle thought grandmother was a good towel |
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| Reggie, Kenneth, Sammie, Sue & Alvie |
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| Cathy, Hallie & Kellen |
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| Hallie showing us how she shakes it! HA! |
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| And Annabelle shaking it too! |
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| Cathy & Kellen |
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| Hallie & Anna playing piano for us |
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| Kenneth! |
